


Ocean Sunsets

by Jessie_Y2K



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Romance, Trans Axel (Kingdom Hearts), Trans Female Character, Trans Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Trans Male Character, Trans Naminé (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-04 06:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17892887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessie_Y2K/pseuds/Jessie_Y2K
Summary: The World has been saved and there's plenty of time to relax with Xehanort gone. Only the Guardians of Light have been through a lot to get here and none of them made it out entirely unscathed.Aqua has a decade of dark emotions to work through, but a lot of new friends to help her out. Especially a loudmouthed redhead.





	1. Beach Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This story is really a big exploration of thoughts and feelings I had after Kingdom Hearts III, with a focus on my new favorite rare pair to boot. I hope people enjoy! I plan to keep it going.

“Aqua, yeah?”

The girl looked to the tall lanky man taking a seat beside her on the sand, taking her out of her daydreaming as she watched the sunset. Everyone had spent the day at Destiny Islands and it had been wonderful. Aqua had started to doubt seeing her old friends again after years in darkness, she never had thought about having such a large family to be around, even if she had hardly spoken to some of them with everything going on. She looked to the redhead beside her, the most enigmatic of her new group of friends.

“Yeah, um…” She paused “Lea, or...Axel?”

He shook his head with a light smile. “Whichever you want, really, long as you stick with it.” he looked at her, tapping his forehead.  
“Lea then” She nodded. “I think it fits better.”

Lea smirked, eyes switching to two of the teens playing by the beach. Roxas and Xion, if Aqua had her names straight, dueling with sticks they found “Well, that makes two of us at least.”

They drifted into a comfortable silence as Aqua contemplated what he meant by that. Sure she had read the notes Jiminy had given her, but they were factual recounts of events. She hardly actually knew the man beside her, how he felt about all the misfortune that had befallen him. Aqua could hardly imagine what it was like to be without a heart for any length of time. She knew what it was like to lose friends though, everyone here did, she thought. It was a sad thing to have in common, but it was at least something they could all relate to.

“I did come here for a reason” he finally spoke. “Funny how we ended up saving the world...worlds? Together but I don’t think i’ve ever said hi to you, so, hey there.” He lifted his hand in a limp wave.

Aqua giggled, returning the hand gesture “Hey”.

Lea reclined back, stretching his legs. “It just felt weird yannow? We all got a big picture book of our icky life stories and we’d barely looked at each other before diving mortal peril. Buy me dinner first at least, right?”

Now Aqua actually laughed, a different kind. She was used to giggling at the antics of Terra and Ven, but they never were really...funny. Not in the sharp way Lea was. She covered her mouth, surprised at the sound.

He laughed with her, a deep and round chuckle. “Must’ve been awhile since you felt like you could relax like this, I know the feeling.”  
“Yeah, but...” Aqua cast her eyes to Kairi, sitting alone on that odd tree. “Some of it still doesn’t feel right.”

Lea followed her gazed. “Poor kid, those two really had something together didn’t they? Don’t know many couples who’ve brung each other back from certain death more than once.”

“Couples?” Aqua blinked and faced Lea again.

“Yeah, you’ve been in the same room as them haven’t you? Two made googly eyes at each other any chance they got.”

“Oh. Can’t say I really know much about that kind of thing.” She blushed lightly. It was a sore point, she was a grown woman but froze up like a schoolgirl at any thought of romance. Training to wield a keyblade and protecting the worlds didn’t leave time for much else. She could save the world but couldn’t look a boy asking her out in the eye, it was kind of embarrassing.

“Really?” Lea sat up. “I coulda sworn…” 

His eyes told the rest of his sentence. Aqua followed them to Terra, still playing with Ven and others. She barked out a laugh, covering her mouth again, serving a dual purpose of hiding her reddening face. “Terra!?”

Lea shrugged.

“O-oh, no.” She tried to stifle her laugh. “I practically grew up with him. Those two are my brothers more than anything. Besides, he’s not really my type.”  
“Not your type?”

“He’s…” Aqua frowned, struggling to find the words, “He’s not the brightest…” She felt bad speaking ill of her friend, but she meant it in the best way possible, honest.

As if to punctuate her sentence, Terra was struck by a wayward frisbee, he grabbed his head, searching for who threw the offending plastic.  
They both broke out laughing, and Lea laid back in the sand.

“Shame, beaches at sunset are tailor made for two.”

Aqua cast a glance his way and shrugged. “No reason we all can’t enjoy it.”

“Heh, bet you don’t know why the sun sets red. Well, Out-”

“Of all the colors, red reaches the farthest.” Aqua grinned.

Lea turned onto his side, jaw slack. “Hey! Way to steal my thunder!”

“Guess that explains the hair.” She teased, laughing more at his flustered expression. He was cute when caught off guard.

“I’ll have you know people love the look, they never forget it!” He huffed, shifting back to rest on his elbows. “Ya’ know, at least it’s something you never get tired of. Back home…” He paused, smiling at the word, though Aqua didn’t know why. “It’s always like this, and I could still stare at sunsets for hours.”

“Always like this? Always a sunset?”

“Yeah, it’s called Twilight Town for a reason. No matter the time of day, the sun is always setting.”

“How does anyone sleep?” Aqua pulled her legs up to her chest, now much more interested in this small talk, she always found other worlds fascinating.

“Eh, you get used to it.” He waved off the concern. “The entire place was made in that light, and it’s great to look at. You should stop by sometime. We have a beach too.”

Aqua nodded, giving the idea some consideration. It was nice to finally have her home back, and her family. She had to admit though, it got lonely with just the three of them there.

“Plus, they have some great watermelon there.”

The casual comment caused Aqua to grimace, she had enough fruit to last her a lifetime, giant fruit, being flung at her by monsters. It took her forever to get the juice washed off and the whole experience was just…

she shuddered.

“Not a fan of watermelon I take it.”

Lea’s comment brought Aqua back to reality. “No, or fruit, really.”

“Your loss, there’s always the soft pretzels anyways. I’ll buy.”

Aqua nodded. “That sounds nice.” She looked out to the water, getting lost thinking about exploring another world for fun, for once.  
“Alright, it’s a date then.”

She whipped her head to look at him, her face turning red in under a second. “D-date?” 

“Like, a day, a set time, or it will be once you tell us when you’re coming. Not like, a date date just like, a hangout. With the others.” He nervously cleared his throat, his cheeks matching hers. “I got a big mouth, don’t think about what I say half the time.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course. It’s a date then.” She smiled down at him, inwardly cursing her nature to become a mess at the mere mention of the word date. “I’d like to get to know your friends.”

“Yeah they’re cool, they learn from the best.” He flashed a grin.

Aqua’s smile widened as she chuckled. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed this much in a single conversation. He had a sharp wit that covered an obvious kindness, someone she really should have talked to before.

Someone she was excited to see again when she made plans to go to Twilight Town’s beach soon after.


	2. Beach "Date"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who appreciate this pair as much as I do. This chapter is a little bit more of my grander plans to process KHIII via FanFic. I hope you all don't mind the chapters being short and sweet, it's how I write better.

Lea huffed and looked down the boardwalk. She was late.

He had made plans with Aqua soon after the day at Destiny islands and had gathered most of the Twilight Town crew for a beach day of their own. Their beach didn’t have the foliage the Islands did, but it made up for it with a full boardwalk of stores and rides. He was excited to show Aqua around, if she showed up.

“What’s wrong Lea, afraid you got stood up?” Isa teased, splitting from the groups conversation to notice Lea’s anxiety.

“What? Naw, just...even if we do it all the time, traveling between worlds is still dangerous.” He ran his fingers through his hair, lying through his teeth.

Roxas leaned in front on Lea. “I’m sure the keyblade master is grateful for your concern.”

“Yeah, you’re not crushing at all.” Xion giggled, prompting Naminé to speak up.

“Go easy on him, she is really pretty. Anyone would be nervous about her.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Lea exclaimed, holding up his hands. “Who said anything about any of this? Not me!”

Xion caught him in a side eye glance. “Uh-huh, you just happened to extend the invite to just Aqua.”

Lea refused to make eye contact, shrugging as he scratched the back of his head. “I was just making conversation, I didn’t think she’d actually take me up on the offer. You know me and my big mouth.” That’s when he spotted her out of the corner of his eye, the bright blue really stood out in the constant reds of Twilight Town. He waved her over, only noticing when she perked up and jogged close that she had someone with her. “Oh, hey Kairi.”

“Hey, Axel.” She met his eyes but the smile she gave was hardly convincing. To say she had been a mess since the Graveyard was an understatement. She always tried to put on her brave face and say she was fine, but she spoke and smiled far less often than usual.

Lea wasn’t sure what to do about her, he’s always been too rough for pep talks. They haven’t been talkung nearly as much as they had while training, and looking at her now Lea couldn’t help the guilt creeping into his stomach. The girl was going through a lot.

“Sorry I’m late, I figured Kairi could use the time off the islands, but it was kind of a last minute idea. I hope it’s not a problem?”

“What? Of course not, right guys?” He turned to his group as they all agreed. “See we got a adaptable group. So wh-”

“Kairi! Come with me and Namine, we really need to spend more time with you!” Xion rushed forward and grabbed Kairi by the arm, nearly dragging her off further into the boardwalk.

Naminé poked Roxas. “You too.” She turned to Isa “Mind coming with us to make sure we don’t get into too much trouble?” She threw her eyes over to the stunned Axel and Aqua, hoping to convey her meaning.

Isa slipped his hands out of his pockets. “Someone needs to be the adult around here.” He raised one hand in departure as he followed the teens, leaving Lea and Aqua staring after them.

“W-what just happened?” Aqua asked.

Lea took and deep breath and huffed, glaring at the group in the distance. They had been on his case about Aqua ever since he mentioned her. It wasn’t his fault he wore his emotions on his sleeve. Sure maybe he had a thing for the keyblade master but he didn’t ask them to go play matchmaker! Still, now he had the perfect chance at showing Aqua around just the two of them. He caught Aqua looking at him expectantly and realized he never made a plan for how to show her around, exactly. Not to mention the light of Twilight town catching her face made it hard to think.

This was much easier when he didn’t have a heart.

\------------------------------------------

Some time was spent browsing the strange merchandise kept in the shops of this boardwalk. It wasn't really a tourist destination so the store fronts were far more tuned towards the local's tastes. Usually a lot of sweets. When Lea spotted to usual game stands set up, he nearly dragged Aqua over. Bringing a master of combat and magic into the rigged system of boardwalk games could only end in a good time. To be honest, it might be one of the best ideas he ever had.

“Ok, maybe this wasn’t the best idea.”

“Hmm?” Aqua didn’t really listen, concentrating, she hurled another ball at a strange target painted like a clown. The ball hitting the mark dead on causing the target to fall back with enough force the entire structure creaked, making the person manning the booth yelp.

“Just, ah never mind.” Lea pinched his nose, looking at Aqua as she grabbed another ball and took aim, tongue peeking out of her mouth. Lea didn’t know if catching Aqua in this moment of concentration was adorable or hot but it was certainly doing something to his cheeks. He only noticed he was staring when he heard a snap and whipped his head to see one of the balls embedded into the back of the stand.

“Oh no!” Aqua brought her hands to her mouth, joining everyone else in surprise that she threw it that hard. “I’m so sorry!”

The girl running the stand just blinked a few times. “Uh, you know, I think that means you win.” She looked at the myriad stuffed animals above her. “Which one ya want?”

“Oh, no I couldn’t!”

“Please, they don’t pay me enough to deal with what happens if you miss again, or hit again, or throw again, in general.”  
Aqua looked mortified. “I didn’t mean to! I jus-”

“That one.” She was cut off by Lea pointing at one of the prizes, which was swiftly grabbed and placed into Aqua’s hands. He took Aqua by the shoulders and led her away from the stand, giving a winning grin to the worker. Aqua just looked guiltily at the small plush fox in her hands.

Lea sat her down on a bench looking out to the water and sat beside her. “Remind me to watch out if you ever get a hands on a frisbee.” He leaned back, placing his hands behind his head. He knew she was capable, but he didn't really think Aqua would be the competitive type, especially even playing by herself.

Aqua huffed. “I didn’t mean it! I just always give my all when I do things. Terra and Ven would give me earful if I just let them win all the time.” She sulked, petting the ears on the fox.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll take it." he said, gesturing to the plush "I don’t know what you like so I just picked out something I would, just in case.”

She cracked a smile. “You like foxes?”

“Yeah! It’s the red.” He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “They’re like my family. Can’t you see the resemblance?” The sly grin he flashed her, showing off his canines, caused her to break out into laughter. Lea wished he had more to that joke, a quip about his childhood or parentage, anything to keep her laughing. Making Aqua laugh was turning out to be an addicting drug. She soon quieted down, fiddling with the plush in her hands “Thank you, Lea.”

“Heh, no problem...what for?”

“You’re funny. And fun. It’s nice to laugh like that.” She paused, turning her gaze to the distance. “I love Terra and Ven, deeply. But it’s hard to forget what happened to us while I’m with them all day. I’m their sister and mother at the same time, I have to care for them and I can't go bothering them with my problems. I don't get to talk about it, and It gets a bit much sometimes. So it’s nice to, not think about it.”

“Well, happy to help. Anytime really.” Lea cringed at himself. That was the best he had? He really was awful at pep talks. She seemed to be content at his works all the same though. They slipped into silence, letting the people around them fill the space as they enjoyed the perpetual sunset. Until Aqua spoke up, pointing towards the beach.

“Is that Kairi?”

Lea followed her finger and sure enough, he noticed the bright spot of red hair he remembered seeing all the time during training. “Yep, that’s her alright.”

“What’s she doing alone?”

“Don’t know…” He stood, offering his hand to help her up. “Let’s go check on her.”

\-------------------------------------------

Lea sat down gently next to Kairi as not to startle her, with Aqua standing not far behind. “Hey, kid.” He said, bracing himself for whatever might come.

Kairi quickly sniffled, blinking to clear her eyes of tears as she looked up. “You’re not that much older than me.” The words seemed like a joke, but her tone was sad and bitter despite her attempted to hide her crying.

He shrugged. “Eh who’s counting, pretty sure i forgot my birthday more than once over the years.”

She smiled, wiping her face and looking back out to the ocean.

“So, where are the others?”

She shrugged.

“Aaaany reason why you’re not with them?”

Kairi sighed, resigning herself to this conversation. “I don’t know, they were.. a lot.” She pulled her knees closer to herself. “They’re nice, but they’re so cheerful and energetic, I don't know how they do it. I can’t keep up with them, it's like they don't know what happened, and when I see Roxas I…” Her voice hitched on the name to catch a sob. “I can’t, Axel.” The dam broke again, fresh tears rolling down as Lea put an arm around her, pulling her to cry into him. “I miss him.”

Lea kept his cool exterior despite the panic at having a crying girl in his arm. For being bad at pep talks he sure was in position to be giving a lot of them. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Trying to speak before he thought too much. “Ah, we all do Kairi. You know Sora though, he never stays gone for long.”

It was a while before Kairi cried enough to speak again, a long while Lea wondered if he said the wrong thing. “It’s different this time. Anytime I lost him, I could always feel him. I knew he was okay no matter how far away he was, even in the darkness.” She sniffled. “I can’t feel him anymore, Axel. I don’t know if he’s really out there. Like this part of my heart is missing.”

“Well I guess you’re in the same boat the rest of us are in then.”

Kairi looked up. “What?”

“I don’t think any of us were as close to him as you, most of us, we just had to hope, yannow?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "I forgot about Xion, I didn’t know where Roxas was or if Ven was okay for the longest time. When I had to think they were okay, that I’d see them again, when I have to believe Sora is gonna find his way back…” He patted his chest, “I don’t have to feel it” And tapped his forehead. “I know it, I have to. Sometimes you just have to have blind faith like that to go on.”

Kairi sat up, letting Lea move his hand from her shoulder. Silent. It was a long silence, one filled with a lot of anxiety on Lea’s part. He really had just spit the words out without thinking, hoping they made sense. Hoping they did something to cheer her up.

Kairi breathed a heavy sigh before letting herself fall back into Lea’s side. “Thanks, Axel.”

“Yeah, uh. No problem! Didn’t train with you for nothing!” Awful, he thought. he really needed to work on accepting thanks from people.

“I think, I want to go home though…”

Lea looked back at Aqua, finding the woman barely holding back tears of her own watching the scene. He grimaced, two crying girls was not how he wanted this day to go. “Y-yeah, sure thing. How about…” He reached into a pocket and pulled out some munny. “You get yourself something to eat on the way back, my treat. I’ll make sure Aqua is ready to take you back.”

Kairi smiled, a halfway honest one this time, as she took the munny and walked off.

Aqua came forward and took Kairi's place beside Lea, both looking at the sunset.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you all weepy, not much of a date now is it?”

Aqua wiped her face. “It’s okay, they were good tears. You seem to know what to say to her.”

Lea shrugged. “It was mostly word vomit. I think my heart just knew what she needed to hear. It has a bad habit of wanting me to be everyone's big brother.”

A chuckle came from Aqua. “Yeah, I know how that feels. Don’t worry though, your plans for the date were thrown off as soon as your friends ditched you.”

“Hey! You got ditched too!”

They both laughed, as they quieted down Lea cleared his throat, his cheeks red. “So, how about Round two. Only this time it’s an actual date, just you and me.”

Aqua blinked, looking to Lea with her own matching blush. “A-an actual date?”

“You know, me, you, and a view made for two. You said I was fun and uh… I think you’re fun too.”

Neither one looked the other in the eye, until Aqua was the first to speak up. “I think…”

“Aqua?”

The two jumped to their feet realizing that Kairi was back, already halfway through an ice cream and holding another in her other hand. “Are you...ready to go?”

Aqua nodded. “Yes.” She looked nervously between Kairi and Axel. “You got two?” She said, pointing at Kairi’s ice cream.

“It’s my comfort food.” She said quietly, taking another large bite.

“Of course.” Aqua giggled. “Yeah I’m ready to go, and Axel?” She turned to him.

“Hmm?” He put his hands in his pockets, trying not to look eager about what Aqua was going to say.

She grinned as she held her plush fox tighter. 

“It’s a date.”


End file.
